Women, gender, and race in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

This chapter examines the progress South Africa has made in terms of advancing women's lives particularly as it relates to race and gender inequalities in the first 25 years of democracy. It specifically focuses on some of the critical areas earmarked for redress by the current democratic dispensation, in particular the social, economic, and political transformation of women's lives, using the lenses of intersectionality and decolonial feminism. The analysis will shed light on the widening inequalities and disparities that threaten to undermine efforts to transform society in general. The chapter argues that South Africa remains deeply divided in terms of race, gender, and space. With regard to women's advancement, there are changes and continuities which, if left unchecked and unmonitored, threaten to further perpetuate the legacy of apartheid in South Africa.